Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Intracranial Pharmacotherapy and Pain Assays in Rodents
Published on: April 9, 2019
Comparative Study of the Effect of Lidocaine Spray and Ice Spray on the Pain Intensity During Intramuscular
Mehdi Jamalinik1, Morteza Hasheminik2, Bahareh Paivar3
1Vasei Hospital, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran.
Background:
Intramuscular injection is one of the most common, invasive, and painful ways to deliver medicine to the body.
Aim:
Since one of the nurse's duties is to employ different methods to reduce pain caused by treatment procedures, this study was conducted to determine the effect of lidocaine spray and ice spray on pain intensity at the muscle injection site.
Method:
A clinical trial was performed on 90 patients presenting to outpatient clinics of Neyshabur hospitals. The samples were selected using a computerized table of random numbers, and each participant was randomly assigned to one of the control, lidocaine spray, and ice spray groups. Pain severity was measured immediately after intramuscular injection using a numerical pain scale. Descriptive statistics along with statistical tests (chi-square, Fisher, etc.) were used to analyze the data in the R environment version 3.6.2. Ordinal logistic regression was used to compare pain intensity in the three groups by adjusting the effect of age variables and sensory disorders.
Results:
The mean pain intensity was 3.44 without intervention, 2.63 with lidocaine spray, and 2.27 with ice spray. Statistical tests indicated a significant difference in pain intensity of intramuscular injection between the ice group and the control group (p = .010). Although lidocaine spray reduced the pain intensity, its effect was insignificant compared with the control group.
Conclusions:
Both ice and lidocaine spray can be effectively used to reduce the intensity of intramuscular injection pain; however, it seems that ice spray is a more effective, safe, and affordable method.
Related Concept Videos
Local Anesthetics: Common Agents and Their Applications
Cocaine is an ester of benzoic acid and methylecgogine. It is used to anesthetize and vasoconstrict locally. Currently, it is used primarily for topical applications. It is beneficial for surgeries on the upper respiratory tract, providing anesthesia and shrinking the mucosa. Cocaine in the form of cocaine hydrochloride is...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Surface, Infiltration, and Conduction Block Anesthesia
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia
Local Anesthetics: Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationship

